Aeolian saltation threshold: the effect of density ratio

Saltation threshold data from three wind tunnels and from hydraulic flumes are presented to show that the dimensionless threshold friction speed for small particles is a continuous function of particle-to-fluid-density ratio. In addition, the dimensionless threshold speed is a function of the grain-friction Reynolds number and an interparticle force term. The variation with density ratio seems to be due to the relative energy with which particles impact other particles to initiate saltation.     

Aragonite relic preservation in Jurassic calcite-replaced bivalves

Shells of the aragonite bivalve Neomiodon (Great Estuarine Group, Jurassic, Scotland) replaced by coarse neomorphic calcite contain oriented relics of the original aragonite ultrastructure. The presence of these relics in such old altered shells, as well as the high Sr content of the replacement calcite, indicate that the process of calcite replacement of aragonite is not a cumulative slow process involving repeated alteration events, but rather a rapid, one-step process. Aragonite relics, once encased in neomorphic spar, will survive as unequivocal evidence of original aragonite mineralogy, barring total remobilization of the enclosing stable calcite, a generally unlikely event. The retention of this residual aragonite and high-Sr calcite supports recent isotopic studies which suggest that the multiple phases of alteration (‘recrystallization’) invoked in earlier literature are unlikely events in the diagenesis of most undolomitized limestones. Retention of aragonite relics appears to be independent of whether alteration occurs in shallow meteoric or, as in the case of our Neomiodon material, deeper burial environments. Pseudopleochroism of the replaced Neomiodon shells appears to be due to organic, largely graphitic, relics, not to the aragonite relics.     

Lichenometry in dating recent glacial landforms and deposits, southeast Iceland

Lichenometry curves were derived for the glacier forelands of Breidamerkurjokull and Skalafellsjökull using measurements of the collective species, Rhizocarpon geographicum , from independently dated surfaces deglaciated during the period since the late-19th century ice maximum episode in the area. The form of the curves appears to be linear. Several methods of predicting the ages of undated surfaces were compared for specific test examples, including single lichenometry curves, families of curves and multiple curves based on randomly selected largest lichens. The last method provided a useful means of assessing the reproducibility of predicted ages. Where substrate conditions were highly variable, a lichenometry curve based on single largest lichens provided a preferred result.     

Uranium/thorium dating of Quaternary carbonates

Gustavsson, J. E. & Högberg, S. A. C.: Uranium/thorium dating of Quaternary carbonates. Boreas, Vol. 1, pp. 247–274. Oslo, 1st December, 1972.
The U/Th methods and particularly the theory of the ²³⁰Th-deficiency method are reviewed. The closed system question is discussed against the background of the growth and structure of the molluscan shells measured. The choice of the half-life value for ²³⁰Th, 75,200 years, is accounted for in a review of the five half-life determinations known to the authors. The measurement procedure starts with the mechanical and ultrasonic cleaning of the sample. Small portions are taken for X-ray analysis. The sample is then divided into two parts. One is treated chemically to separate the uraninium and the thorium, in order to determine the ratio between the activities of the uranium isotopes and to determine the content of ²²⁶Ra. The other part of the sample is used to make the total measurement on the uranium and thorium isotopes simultaneously from the same part of the sample without any chemical pretreatment.     

俯冲板片中微量元素的活动性:西天山榴辉岩相运输脉的制约

西天山的基性高压变质岩显示互相连接的榴辉岩相脉体网络来源于蓝片岩的进变质脱水作用,通过这些网脉可以洞察在俯冲带高压条件下远程流体流动中的流体-岩石相互作用和元素负载。岩相学证据表明外来流体的渗透作用产生运输脉,而流体持续的沟道式流动导致主岩蓝片岩的淋滤。脉和蓝片岩蚀变带中锂(Li)的含量几乎是蓝片岩主岩中锂的两倍,它支持流体是外部来源的设想。这些流体触发了蓝片岩主岩的榴辉岩化作用而形成蓝片岩蚀变带。由于成脉流体中的微量元素含量低,所以导致与流体发生化学反应的主岩中所有微量元素的强烈淋滤。在此过程中有53%~81%的微量元素被活化,与大离子亲石元素和轻稀土元素的损失相符合,它们的损失量几乎是重稀土元素和高场强元素损失量的两倍。     

Equilibration History of the Basel Alpine-Type Peridotite, Red Mountain, New Zealand

The Red Mountain alpine peridotie forms the basal, dominantlyharzburgitic tectonite portion of an ophiolite suite in SouthIsland, New Zealand. Olivine and pyroxene Mg/Fe compositionsare constant for individual lithologies, but generally increasethrough the series harzburgite, orthopyroxenite, harzburgiticdunite, dunite. An olivine-clinopyroxene dominated transitionalperidotite along the western margin of the mass has more Fe-richsilicates than in the harzburgitic suite. Fe-Mg silicate-spinelrelationships and the distribution of Al between coexistingpyroxene and spinel indicate nearly complete post-layering equilibration.A partial re-equilibration is suggested by narrow compositionalrims on pyroxenes and spinel. Relative to the mineral cores,the rims show enhanced partitioning of Al into spinel relativeto pyroxene. The Fe-Mg relationships between silicates and spinel,and the compositional variations from cores to rims of pyroxenesand spinels indicate that the rims formed at lower temperaturesthan the mineral cores. This conclusion is supported by theapplication of several geothermometers, which give average temperaturesof equilibration and partial re-equilibration of 1000–1070?C and 920–1030 ?C, respectively. Pyroxene overgrowthson olivine probably represent pre-equilibration cooling phenomena.Equilibration pressures cannot be estimated with precision becauseRed Mountain pyroxenes have Al contents that vary as a functionof whole-rock Al₂O₃, and other compositional variables, as wellas of T and P of equilibration. The lack of plagioclase in theharzburgite tectonites, and the wide range of (Al/Cr)_spinelindicate equilibration at fairly high pressures, probably atdepths within the 25–80 km range. The transitional peridotiteprobably formed by re-equilibration of residual crystals withbasaltic melt at shallower (<25 km) depths, and is evidencesupporting the conclusion that the ultramafic and mafic partsof the ophiolite suite at Red Mountain represent complementaryparts of the same melting event.     

REE and PGE Geochemical Constraints on the Formation of Dunites in the Luobusa Ophiolite, Southern Tibet

The Luobusa ophiolite, Southern Tibet, lies in the Indus–YarlungZangbo suture zone that separates Eurasia to the north fromthe Indian continent to the south. The ophiolite contains awell-preserved mantle sequence consisting of harzburgite, clinopyroxene(cpx)-bearing harzburgite and dunite. The harzburgite containsabundant pods of chromitite, most of which have dunite envelopes,and the cpx-bearing harzburgites host numerous dunite dykes.Dunite also exists as a massive unit similar to those of themantle–crust transition zones in other ophiolites. Allof the dunites in the ophiolite have a similar mineralogy, comprisingmainly olivine with minor orthopyroxene and chromite and tracesof clinopyroxene. They also display similar chemical compositions,including U-shaped chondrite-normalized REE patterns. Mantle-normalizedPGE patterns show variable negative Pt anomalies. Detailed analysisof a chromite-bearing dunite dyke, which grades into the hostcpx-bearing harzburgite, indicates that LREE and Ir decrease,whereas HREE, Pd and Pt increase away from the dunite. Thesefeatures are consistent with formation of the dunite dykes byinteraction of MORB peridotites with boninitic melts from whichthe chromitites were formed. Because the transition-zone dunitesare mineralogically and chemically identical to those formedby such melt–rock reaction, we infer that they are ofsimilar origin. The Luobusa ultramafic rocks originally formedas MORB-source upper mantle, which was subsequently trappedas part of a mantle wedge above a subduction zone. Hydrous meltsgenerated under the influence of the subducted slab at depthmigrated upward and reacted with the cpx-bearing harzburgitesto form the dunite dykes. The modified melts ponded in smallpockets higher in the section, where they produced podiformchromitites with dunite envelopes. At the top of the mantlesection, pervasive reaction between melts and harzburgite producedthe transition-zone dunites. KEY WORDS: melt–rock interaction; REE; PGE; hydrous melt; mantle; ophiolite; Tibet     

Holocene evolution of the Anichab Pan on the south-west coast of Namibia

Coastal sediment-filled depressions (pans) are one of the few areas that contain Quaternary records of sea-level and palaeoenvironmental change along the western margin of southern Africa. Anichab is a 128 km² salt-encrusted pan on the hyper-arid southern coast of Namibia with an emergent, well-preserved and in-place mid-Holocene mollusc assemblage. The molluscs are typical of subtidal sands on the sheltered side of offshore islands but include several warm-water species no longer found living along this coast. The Holocene evolution of the pan was largely influenced by changes in sea level and supply of sand along the coast. Calibrated radiocarbon ages of mollusc shells indicate a maximum Holocene sea level of ca 2 m above mean sea level (msl) from 7·0 to 6·3 ka and a return to near present-day sea level by 5·3 ka. The pan surface is 2 m below msl and has been emergent since 4·9 ka from the build up of sandy beaches and coastal dunes. A thin (1–4 cm) halite crust occurs over much of the pan surface but a layer of halite-cemented sand up to 40 cm thick is restricted to the central pan. Gypsum occurs near the subsurface brine interface and is limited by calcium to the edges of the pan. Nodules of calcite-cemented sand are forming in brackish, relatively high alkalinity subsurface waters in the south-east corner of the pan and nodules of aragonite-cemented sand are forming in brines 1 m below the central pan surface. Although modern dolomite has been reported from coastal lagoons of Brazil and Australia, carbonate cements are a minor feature of Anichab Pan and dolomite was restricted to a single reworked nodule most likely of Late Pleistocene age. Therefore, Anichab Pan does not appear to be a modern analogue to extensive, mixed-water dolomite cements found in Upper Pleistocene sediment-filled depressions on the Namibian shelf.